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8,000-YEAR-OLD PREHISTORIC HOUSE FOUND AS AIRPORT DIG NEARS COMPLETION

By IsleOfManAdmin on Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Filed Under: Arts & Culture, Isle of Man

Isle News, 14 July 2009 – A major archaeological find has been unearthed as fieldwork at Ronaldsway nears completion, with diggers due to finish excavating in the middle of July.

The major discovery is the foundations of a strongly-built shelter, filled and surrounded by thousands of pieces of worked flint, the charred remains of wood, and hundreds of hazelnut shells, all characteristic of the first human settlers returning to the Island around 8,000 years ago after the end of the Ice Age.

The site has attracted interest from a BBC team filming the next series of ‘Coast’, and has recently been visited by Professor of Archaeology Peter Woodman, who excavated a similar, but less well-preserved, site eroding out of the cliffs just over a hundred metres away in the 1980s.

Manx National Heritage Field Archaeologist Andrew Johnson commented: ‘Archaeologists hesitate to call a structure of this kind a “house”, because the received wisdom is that 8,000 years ago people constantly moved through the landscape as nomads, gathering their food from the land, rather than staying put and farming and harvesting it.

‘But this building was constructed from substantial pieces of timber, and had a hearth for cooking and warmth. Its occupants lived here often, or long enough to leave behind over twelve thousand pieces of worked flint together with the tools needed to flake them, and food debris in the form of hundreds of hazelnut shells. The site so excited Professor Woodman that at the last minute he included it in a key-note lecture he gave at a major archaeology conference in York last month.’

So far, archaeologists have made their preliminary interpretations based on their observations in the field. Much painstaking study and analysis is now needed to ensure that when the results are
eventually published, they stand up to the scientific scrutiny they will undoubtedly attract. Since comparatively few materials can survive in the ground for such a long period – unburnt wood, horn, bone, leather etc will have long since rotted away – it will be important to derive maximum information from those remains which have been found.

The overall excavation, triggered by planning conditions attached to the Airport’s Runway Project, has been undertaken for the Department of Transport by Oxford Archaeology North and monitored on behalf of the Airport by Manx National Heritage. It has been known that the Ronaldsway area contains an unusually rich prehistoric and historic landscape since work first began to create the Island’s airport there in 1935. Several discoveries were made in the 1930s, and further significant finds were made during the construction of paved runways and the development of a naval air station during World War II. The development of the New Turkeyland Quarry in the 1980s resulted in yet more important finds.

Airport Director Ann Reynolds said: ‘A development of this size and type necessitates the assessment of its likely environmental impacts before the project can gain planning approval. The archaeological impact was identified at the outset, and we have worked closely with MNH to ensure both that construction work can be kept on target and also that our environmental responsibilities relating to the archaeology works are met.’

Significant practical changes were made to the overall project to ensure that only the minimum amount of ground was disturbed in the course of construction, and construction working practices were designed to avoid archaeological costs being incurred unnecessarily. The locations of contractors’ storage and equipment compounds were revised and traffic routes fixed so that, where possible, they were aligned on ground scheduled for construction works.

Current archaeological works originally began in May 2008, and nearly three months of fieldwork saw the discovery of a 3,000-year-old Bronze Age village, three burials and numerous artefacts, including thousands of pieces of pottery and worked flint. During that time a ground area equivalent to 20 football pitches was inspected and archaeological features recorded before being signed back to the construction contractor.

Andrew Johnson said: ‘This has been a major achievement for all concerned. It is by far the largest archaeological project to have been undertaken on the Island, and has taken place under difficult practical circumstances requiring great efficiency and speed. The discoveries have been first-class and are sure to revise and improve understanding of prehistoric life on the Isle of Man.’

Fieldwork recommenced in late January this year, focusing on the east end of the Airport where both the new taxiway and the runway are to be extended out to sea on a purpose-built promontory. The taxiway crosses an area where important archaeological remains survive, which cannot be avoided, whilst the runway itself was scheduled to traverse ground where prehistoric remains were recorded nearly two hundred years ago.

Whilst the runway works drew a blank, the taxiway proved to be a different matter, with the discovery of the 8,000-year-old prehistoric building.

Dr Andrew Foxon, Head of Professional Services at MNH, commented: ‘It comes as no real surprise that the development of the runway project should result in further significant archaeological discoveries being made in this area. Fortunately, mechanisms were put in place as a result of the planning process to allow those remains unavoidably disturbed by construction to be recorded, and eventually understood by the public.’

Minister for Transport David Anderson MHK said: ‘We have worked closely with MNH towards meeting our archaeological commitments; similar liaison has been taking place with DAFF on ecological matters as diverse as preserving the safety of birds, orchids and marine life, and with DLGE to ensure that dust, silt and noise are kept within internationally accepted levels. It is our responsibility as a developer to ensure that, where our works potentially affect the existing environment, every precaution is taken to minimise, reduce or mitigate that threat.’

Alongside the archaeological fieldwork, the construction project has continued as tens of thousands of tonnes of rock have been brought by sea to build the promontory that will accommodate the extended runway end safety area, demanded by enhanced international safety guidelines. The project remains on course for completion at the end of the year.

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